Figure Sculpting

In late winter I had the great privilege of taking a sculpture workshop (clay modeling) with none other than world-renowned sculptor, Alex Hromcych, of the Reading/ Philadelphia area. Held in the gorgeous timber-modern studios of Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell PA, we had a ton of great space to work and work we did.

Front 3/4 right view

I missed the first two days of the workshop because of other freelance illustration obligations, but when I finally caught up with them, here is what came of it: The torso (and base) is hollow and the legs are solid. The method by which to obtain this lighter-weight construction is simple, as it requires only that the clay be flattened by pounding it with a paddle into a 1" thick sheet and rolled into a tube. It is then attached to a similarly constructed, flat slab of similar thickness for the base.  After that, Alex's only rule was: "Look three minutes; sculpt one."

Back view

The piece is about 16" tall and 10" +/-wide on either side.

Mr. Hromcych also demonstrated other sculptural techniques; he constructed a small 18" bas relief and a 12" bust using the same slab-and-cylinder technique.

Front view

Our excellent model, David Sanfilippo, works in colleges all over PA and MD, and is a serious expert on Classical poses; with his physique and fitness he's the *ultimate* artist's model. (And he's an all-around helluva guy and a pleasure to work with --he's got great stories and is funny as hell). I have always used drawing or painting media to create figure studies during any figure sessions because it's fast and it's what I'm most comfortable working in. However, I'd definitely recommend to the 2-D artist to take any and every chance offered to sculpt the figure; I learned that it expands and further develops one's sense of the space and volume that a body inhabits.